You’ll be pleased to know Rod has packed. Final luggage weigh-in:

• Rod – 15kg plus 4kg carry-on
• Belinda & Hamish – 25kg plus 4kg each carry-on

Some of the weightier items include: Hamish’s winter jacket & boots, first aid/medicine kit, my make-up bag…all the essentials.

This week has been hectic. Hamish spent Saturday vomiting, which required three days off school, one trip to the Dr and a course of antibiotics (plus back up – thus the bulked up first aid kit!). However, he’s definitely on the mend and super excited for his last day of school tomorrow.

Our lovely house sitter (all the way from the USA) and her Wangaratta family popped in for dinner last night, so we could relay any final messages and show her how our complicated TV system works.

And from me, I think there’s nothing else to be done. Anything that’s required printing has been printed. There’s a couple of sticky notes on a suitcase reminding me to pack chargers, a brush and a shampoo bar. I plan to have a luxurious bath tomorrow, catch up with my friend Matilda for my last decent coffee for 7 weeks, put my feet up and finish Season 3 of The Crown (one episode to go).

Hamish and I will check in from Dublin. Ciao.

A note from Rod…

The time has almost arrived. We are all very pumped for what lies ahead. Huge kudos to Belinda for planning and booking just about everything. Tomorrow night the adventure begins.

 

A note from Hamish…

OMGW! We’re leaving tomorrow – this is excellent aka awesome!

I’m so excited to play 3 hours of Minecraft in the car on the way to Jessie’s place.

I’m excited to find our blue apartment building in Dublin. I’m going to say goodbye to all my friends at school tomorrow, which is sad, but also happy! Byeeee!

“It’s only 7 more days until we leave for Dublin!” said a very excited Hamish this morning, “OMGW Mum!” (Oh My Gosh Wow…apparently). However, he’s right – next Friday night we fly from Melbourne and start our 7 week trip. Hamish and I are heading to Dublin, but Rod is on official school business and will spend a few days in Heidenheim, Germany, before meeting us in Ireland. We will part ways in Dubai.

This trip has been in the planning stage all year. We’ve booked and paid for bits and pieces each month – so at this stage, there’s not much else to do! I’ve purchased many of our winter strength clothing online from a store in the UK (Cotswold Outdoors), which amazingly, has been a very affordable option for quality brands at highly discounted prices. Boots, jackets, pants, thermals – you name it, I’ve probably bought it from CO!

Not surprisingly (if you know me well), I’ve basically been packing mine and Hamish’s bag all year. This time, he and I are sharing a mid-sized suitcase – I am only taking two pairs of shoes! Gasp! Last trip an entire post was devoted to the shoe debate…live and learn. Hamish suggested I pack his Christmas stocking, “Otherwise how will he (Santa) find me?” We are also sharing a carry on sized suitcase for the last week of our trip which will be in Singapore and Malaysia.

Rod typically, is not packed. I forced him to do a practice pack a few weeks ago to ensure he had enough clothing and that his bag was going to be under the weight limit. It is. You wouldn’t want to get to the day before to find these things out! (He’s always grateful of my suggestions). Each of our suitcases weigh a massive 13 kg – not bad for 3 people travelling for 7 weeks!

Jess: Just a quick note about Jess: she’s not coming on this trip. She’ll have the important job of airport drop-off/pick-up, babysitting my car, continuing her relentless job hunting and finding new digs for 2020. She recently graduated from Deakin Uni with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching, following the family trade into secondary education.

Rod sporting his Movember moustache

It’s been four year since we headed overseas on our extended trip around Europe. We reminisc about this trip all the time and I guess we’ve just been waiting for the right time to plan another adventure. Is it ever really the right time? Perhaps. Here’s a brief update.

Hamish.

He’s just turned 9. He turned 5 in Italy during our last trip and we’re hoping some of the struggles we had with him will be reduced due to him just being older! He’s enjoyed assisting with the planning and has even picked accommodation when the decisions between two very similar (but different) apartments was getting too much for us! His decision making process is very different to ours, such as, “That one has a fruit bowl – it’s the best” or, “I like the one with the blue bedroom”. Fair enough.

 

Rod.

He’s still teaching Maths at Cathedral College, but is now the Careers Advisor too. He completed a Post Grad Cert in Careers Education in 2018, his first formal bout of study since graduating from Melbourne University back in the day. Again, he’s been more than happy for me to do most of the planning and organising, but is, as always, a great sounding board and voice of reason.

 

Me.

This trip was my idea, bought on by pure envy: a picture of a work colleague hanging out of a window in Barcelona with a glass of red in her hand was the impetus. I said to Rod, “I’m sick of everyone being in Spain drinking red wine! I want to be in Spain!” This conversation occured 12 months ago and here we are, with two weeks to go until we fly out. I am still working at Northeast Heatlh as a nurse and have just finished a Post Grad Cert in Critical Care. I think I have less than 10 shifts left at work – but who’s counting?

 

The Blog.

We really wanted to document another overseas trip; we’ve loved re-reading the last blog and it’s filled us with great memories! In light of us not coming up with a better name, we’ve decided to keep the old blog with the old name. Obvioulsy, the 111 days part, and the Europe part might not count anymore, but hey, it’s a blog for family and friends and you guys know us well.

I’ll continue to update over the next two weeks before we fly out. The blog site might change format as I (re) – learn what to do. I’ve paid for the site so there’s no annoying ads. Looking forward to having you along for our 7 weeks!

 

 

Our final blog. If you know us well, it will come as no surprise we like to keep count of things. Little, random things that no-one else really notices or cares about…but we do. Here is a list we (but mostly Rod) have compiled about our travels to Europe.

 

111 – days we spent in Europe

34 – days Jess spent in Europe

49 – number of blogs posted (this will make 50)

24 – ways European meteorologists describe ‘cloudy’ when forecasting the weather:

• Clouds and sun
• Periods of sun
• More clouds than sun
• Mild with clouds and sun
• Partly sunny and mild
• Mild with some sun
• Cloudy
• Sun and some clouds
• Cloudy and mild
• Partly sunny
• Clear with periodic clouds
• Some sun, then turning cloudy
• Times of cloud and sun
• Clouds and breaks of sun
• Mainly cloudy
• Mostly cloudy
• Plenty of clouds
• Considerable cloudiness
• Clouds and sunshine
• Sunny intervals
• Some sun, then turning cloudy
• Sunshine and patchy clouds
• Mostly sunny
• Decreasing clouds

 

170 – number of playlists Hamish created on his iPod, with names such as ‘Vhcjv’, ‘Gfh’ and, our favourite ‘Fug’

8.7km – the longest tunnel of the trip

90m – the shortest tunnel of the trip

10 – modes of transport we used: plane, car, train, ferry, bus, tram, funicular, water bus, horse and carriage and cable car.

7 – Christmas markets visited: Alexander Platz, Prenzlauer Berg, Prague, Salzburg, Krakow, Ulm and Erlangen

3 – hop on/hop off tours done: Krakow, London and Munich

1 – number of items left behind, (Hamish’s baby powder)

3 – emergency pees in a bottle (all Hamish)

2 – Transit police encountered; the only time we did not have a validated ticket

3.14 – the value of Pi to 2 decimal places (it’s the same over here) Belinda bought me a “Pi” badge

0 – tolls in Germany and the Netherlands

103 – average km travelled per day in our lease car

4.8 – L/100 km fuel consumption for the trip

10 – countries visited: Italy, France, England, Scotland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria.

6 – different currencies used: Euro, English pounds, Scottish pounds, Polish Zlotys, Czech Kroner. Plus 2 Greek coins that came into our possession.

0 – value of Greek coins in our possession

25 – separate accommodations

1 – accommodation with no Wi-Fi

1 – night spent in hospital (by Rod)

1 – gall stone passed (by Rod)

93.9 – Euro cents/litre; cheapest fuel price – Salzburg

153.9 – Euro cents/litre; dearest fuel price – Italy

5 – cities in which it snowed: Dijon, Dunbar, Berlin, Warsaw and Salzburg

0.62 – average Euro per Aussie dollar

 

So there you have it, a little insight into how we spent some of our down time. And for the record, we are missing our carefree life of travelling and yes, we can’t wait to do it some more. Thanks for reading, hope you’ve enjoyed.

We hit the road by 9am, heading for the Peugeot drop off centre, near Leonardo da Vinci airport. Due to past experience, we decided to trust MapsMe over the SatNav and were taken on a merry tour cross country and to the west coast of Italy. Along the way, tolls were few, traffic was light and thus, Rod drove down the wrong side of the road for about 200m. Some road signs were confusing – often pointing to Rome in both directions. So I guess it’s true what they say…

We arrive at the car depot with plenty of time and without delay, are whisked back to the airport by the courtesy vehicle. Check in and customs are unexpectedly smooth and quick. Our carry-on luggage consists of one back pack each. A small tram shuttles passengers between terminals and here we hit our first snag. Hamish has left his backpack on the platform and this is noticed by one of our fellow tram travellers. Hamish lets out a blood curdling scream, much to the shock and horror of everyone. The door will not open. Someone outside the tram is holding up the “George Pig” backpack. I point in the direction of the next terminal, hoping they might bring the bag with them. However, just to be sure, I leave Rod and Hamish at the new destination and stay on the tram hoping to retrieve the bag myself. When I return to the scene, I am told in no uncertain terms by a guard, “Senora, please get off the tram and head back through security.” I try to explain that I am just getting my son’s bag. Doesn’t matter. Rules and rules. Suddenly Italy has rules.

 

Now I am in a different part of the airport, nothing is familiar. Fortunately, I am holding all passports and boarding passes – without these, I would be unable to get through security. I set off the metal detector and two female security officers say something about my underwire. I am frisked, mostly around the chestal area, very hands on (it’s the Italian way). I then set off to find the shuttle tram. There is no tram. There is now a shuttle bus. I get a text from Rod, “We have the bag” – they are still standing on the platform waiting for my arrival. I hope I am heading in the right direction. My text back to Rod includes the word “nightmare” prefixed by an expletive. We finally meet at the gate. George Pig has been returned to his rightful owner and everyone is happy.

 

Our Emirates flight to Dubai is a sweet 5 hours and we fly over Cairo, the Red Sea and Saudi Arabia at 43 000 ft (not Syria, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia as the on-board flight map shows us). We have a three hour stop at Dubai airport and buy a cup of fruit salad and an egg sandwich which costs us $30. Hamish is busy doing his activity book from the previous flight. We have hooked into the free wifi. Once checked in, Hamish introduces himself to some Australian children and proceeds to entertain everyone with tales of the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall and my Christmas presents. This helps the time fly and before we know it, we’re on our way to Malaysia. This is a 6 hour flight, but seems to really drag. Hamish sleeps for half of it, Rod and I get about an hour of light napping.

 

At Dubai, another Australian family gets on the plane, but these parents have the loudest, most distressed 2 year old in the world. And they are sitting two seats behind us. This child screams so loudly, it is impossible to hear the movie you are watching. I feel sorry for everyone: the child, the parents, all the passengers – but especially us. It’s relentless for no less than 2 hours at a time. We are more than happy to get off the plane at Kuala Lumpur, even though all we are doing is going through another security check and hopping back on the same plane, in the same seats for our last 7 hours to Melbourne. The family with the devil child follow us to Melbourne and everyone looks disappointed as we reboard and the child resumes its inflight entertainment. This flight, although pretty bumpy, seems to go the quickest, perhaps just because I know most of it is over Australia.

Arriving in Australia just after 2am we quietly throw around a few high fives, to the family motto of “Did it!” Customs is quick and we are positive we will be out of the airport and into our beds in the Park Royal before 3am. Wrong. We wait an hour for our bags and are among the last people from our flight to leave the airport.

 

Everyone has showers at the hotel room and we’re in bed by 4am. We have a midday check out and all sleep soundly till the alarm wakes us at 11am. Dad and Jess pick us up and before long, we are back in Wangaratta like we’ve never left.

 

Today is day 110. We are all but packed for our departure tomorrow from Rome airport. If it wasn’t for Hamish growing out of most of his clothes, it would be hard to believe we have been away for nearly 4 months. We have spent a fairly low key week here in Bolsena, but it’s the Italian way.

Our plan to travel a bit off the beaten track has once again paid off, as Bolsena is a hidden gem. Yesterday we explored the mostly still unexcavated archaeological site of the city of Volsinii. Volsinii (264 BC) is not quite as ancient (or well known) as Pompeii and Paestum (600 BC), but it was a 500m walk from our front door, entry was free, no one tried to sell us a selfie stick and we were the only people there. It was incredible.

The day before we had booked the babysitter to watch Hamish for a few hours in the afternoon. The plan was Rod and I would have a leisurely, child free time exploring Bolsena and completing a few errands. As Italy shuts down from lunch, we left this till 3pm, thinking most things would re-open by then. Wrong. Post office only open till 1pm. Chemist re-opened at 4pm. Cafes closed. Gale force winds. It was not exactly the afternoon we had planned, but we made the most of it by visiting St Cristina’s church. Doesn’t sound enticing, but once we walked around looking at the art and wondering how they got it on the ceiling, we paid a few euro to enter the catacombs. Creepy, interesting, dark, stories of blood spewing forth from a chalice: religion has something for everyone.

There is some time to fill in during the afternoon, so we think it would be ideal to get Hamish in for a haircut. He thinks otherwise. After protracted negotiations, we wend our way down the hill and find a hairdresser just off the main square of the village. (Turns out there is also a barber in the next laneway to ours – about 60 metres away.) The shop is small and overflowing with garrulous Italian women, some of whom cut hair, parents and kids waiting to get their hair cut. Rod walks a few laps of the laneways whilst the job is done – there is no room to swing a cat. Italians are very stylish, even when they are just popping into the grocery store. It is my opinion, they are the most fashionable, well dressed people in Europe. Hamish now has a haircut, partly undercut, but with still the blunt bowl cut he received in Prague. Not sure if he is sporting an Italian boys haircut or if something has been lost in translation. Still, he is cute and this is working in his favour. Afterwards, Hamish is rewarded (he was most cooperative, even though he hates haircuts) with a cone of lemon/chocolate gelati from a multi-award winning (the trophies were enormous!) local producer.

 

Our awesome babysitter was more than happy to be booked for a few more hours last night as Rod and I went out for dinner. It’s off season here and many restaurants close down, or are only open on the weekends. We didn’t really discover the extent of this until we walked into town last night and saw the place we had picked for dinner was shut. We found a restaurant open in the large hotel in town and for the first hour, we were the only guests. We suspect it was the owners elderly father sitting in the bar lounge watching Italian game shows, whilst perhaps it was her Mother cooking our delicious meals. New taste sensation, cheese dipped in honey. We shared anti-pasto (cold meats and cheese) and then I had the most amazing mushroom gnocchi. Somehow Rod was able to order off the menu and had lamb chops with salad, also incredible.

For our final day in Bolsena, we all went out for lunch to a restaurant on the Lake (only open for lunches) and are about to order take away pizza for dinner. Hamish’s cough has continued to hang around and he has managed to pass it onto me, so I am feeling pretty shabby and not looking forward to 20 hours of flying. Still, it’s just one day. We have given many of Hamish’s clothes to the charity bins in town; as I already said, he has outgrown some and most of the others won’t fit by time our winter comes around again.

 

The end of a holiday is always bitter sweet. Looking forward to getting Hamish organised for school and Jess settled into Uni, but of course, sorry this remarkable trip is coming to an end and we have to go back to work. Hope you have enjoyed reading about our travels. There will still be a few more blogs, so watch this space.

Last comment from Hamish: I’m flying back home and I am going to see my sister Jess. And it’s going to be very exciting!

By Belinda and Rod

 

We left Mestre-Venice on a freezing, foggy, frosty Thursday morning and pointed the car in a southerly direction to our last destination of Bolsena, Lake Bolsena. Of note on the trip here: ice falling off the tops of trucks as they turned corners, huge sections of brand new tunnels and one car on fire (not ours and not in the tunnel). Because the tunnels were new, satnav was totally confused. We were instructed to do various dangerous/impossible driving manoeuvres such as: “turn right in 10m” and “if possible, do a U turn”. We are over the sat nav.

Hamish is over shopping, but will sit in the babyseat with Ipad, even though he is well over the weight, and height limit.

 

Months ago back in Australia, I was reading the RACV magazine. Right at the end, there is a section dedicated to holiday accommodation. I noticed an advertisement for a 2 bedroom apartment in Bolsena, Italy. I referred to my trusty google maps and found it is positioned about 90 minutes north-ish of Rome. I emailed the Australian owner with a couple of dates in mind and they were both available. Somehow, somewhere along the way, we ditched the idea altogether – I even deleted emails! So as our trip was drawing to a close, we re-visited the idea of staying in Bolsena; if nothing else, it meant we didn’t have to stay at Rome airport the night before we flew out. As I had so diligently erased everything to do with this apartment, I asked my Dad to look it up in the RACV magazine – Dad’s seldom get the opportunity to show their true value, but this time Phillip came through with the gold. I contacted the owner and here we are. Check it out www.vdlbolsena.com it’s beautiful and affordable. And being owned by an Australian, it has things we have missed in other apartments: tongs, toaster, microwave, instructions in English…

The apartment is in the Rione Castello (Castle District) of the medieval village; the castle is one minute away on foot. This stay gives a feeling of symmetry to our trip, since its winding alleyways are reminiscent of our time in Campagna, back in September. Fortunately, the car trip to locate our accommodation was much less eventful, although we had to park off the street and carry our luggage quite a distance. The view from our window takes in much of the village and the lake. It is stunning and a perfect way for us to relax before we are thrown back into reality.

Belinda has managed to find a local babysitter (Sofia) who speaks fluent English. So we have actually managed to have our first night out as a couple for almost 4 months. Hamish likes her, because “she watched a movie with me. First we watched SpongeBob 1, then we watched Mr. Bean; Special Peaches, the Best Bits.” Yet one more reason to love the internet. Our time here has been pretty laid back, exploring the village on foot, watching Sky TV (in English) and gradually planning our exit from Italy. The weather here has been a pleasant change; maxima of 12-15 degrees and mostly sunny. Just right for our final week in Europe.

 

Probably need to play a bit of Tetris in the next few days to help facilitate our packing.

 

 

 

 

 

The past few days have been very low key due to the weather: rain, 1-2 degrees. Hamish also has developed a nasty cough, so we were happy enough to have a couple of rest days. What do two teachers do when they have a child indoors for two days? Play schools of course. Rod and I planned ‘lessons’ to help us all get through the day and Hamish was very responsive, calling us Mr and Mrs Dunbar respectively. As is the case with team teaching, one person always gets the credit for the work of the team. In our case it was Rod who got the glory for my ideas. Halfway through my lesson, Hamish asked “When is my real teacher coming back?” This was not long after he said, “I hate art!”

 

Rod ventured out of the apartment a few times to get a feel for the neighbourhood and to pick up essentials, namely food, wine, gin and tonic. Just an interesting aside, a full sized bottle of Gordon’s Gin cost 10 Euro – this is about $15! It would have been rude not to buy at this price.

 

Like much of Italy, Mestre is old. It has a sort of run-down look (no offence intended), but when you get in and actually experience the surrounds, the looks are misleading. There are lots of interesting cafes, bars, streets, buildings and pasticcerias (pastry shops). Rod bought some afternoon tea from one of the aforementioned pasticcerias – a full sized jam tart (see picture). It is basically shortbread with jam. It’s delicious and cost more than the bottle of gin!

As we always keep a keen eye on the weather, Wednesday was our one shot of going to Venice. During his trips out of the apartment Rod had found the bus stop and the tobacco shop. In many parts of Europe, public transport tickets are purchased at these corner shops, so finding them is gold. This took the hassle out of getting to Venice. We purchased 24 hour, all transit tickets and took a bus through the city centre of Mestre then crossed the Ponte della Liberta, the bridge that links Venice to the mainland.

It was easy to find the Number 1 vaporetto (water bus) and we hopped on. We were even able to help other tourists with information about purchasing tickets and validating tickets! Venice is just amazing and we loved it. We hopped off at the wrong vaporetto stop, but it turns out we actually discovered more of the city this way. There are endless alley ways with shops and cafes, each turn is a new adventure. No traffic meant Hamish could walk on his own (no hand holding) and with the help of MapsMe (thanks again Ricky McCarthy), we found the Piazza San Marco. We both agreed the Basilica de San Marco is the most beautiful church we have ever seen. It is richly decorated and there is nothing else to do but stand there and say “Wow!”

 

Even though it was a very cold day, we didn’t leave without having a gelato – our first since Pompeii, back in October. On our way back to the vaporetto stop, we saw a couple having their wedding pictures taken. I mentioned to Rod, no matter how much I loved him, there was no way I was getting out in a strapless dress in 3 degrees. Initially Venice was not on our list of places to visit, but we are so glad we have been there. It only makes us want to come back again, perhaps when the weather is a bit kinder.

Failed to mention we leave for Australia in one week.

We awoke to the most beautiful sounds a parent could ever hear from their 5 year old. A sharp intake of breath, followed by,

“It’s Christmas, it’s Christmas!” I was confused at first, not just because it was 730am, but because it was not Christmas. Then it dawned on me that it must have snowed overnight. And snow it did. It looked like a pastry chef had gone mad and decided to cover the city with 15 cm of pure white icng. It looked exactly as we thought it would – incredible.

Once the excitement subsided enough to have breakfast, the reality of the snow started to sink it. Rod was going to have to get the snow off the car and then drive down the snowy street. However, it all went to plan and I enjoyed a coffee whilst Rod and Hamish had a bit of a play outside, then cleared the car and part of the footpath.

Hamish’s pants were drenched by time we left, so we had to get some dry clothes from the packed car to dress him in. His excitement had not died down: big wide eyes, pink cheeks, huge grin. He told me he had tried to make a snow angel, but Rod had wrecked it. The only thing I saw was him try to throw a big chunk of snow at Rod.

The drive to Mestre (mainland side of Venice) took us 5 hours including one stop. The roads were in excellent condition due to the full time activity of Mr Plow (one for the Simpson’s fans). Italy has given us many ‘wow’ moments and today was no exception. The scenery through the Alps was unbelievable and we really did just keep saying, ‘oh wow!’

Today is Day 99 of our trip. Tomorrow we depart Salzburg and head back to Italy for the final leg of our journey. Salzburg has been our longest stop – 16 days in total. In that time, other than ticking off most of the tourist destinations, we feel like we’ve really gotten to know the town of approximately 150 000 people. We are very familiar with at least 4 bus lines, shopping centres, corner shops, parks and supermarkets. Our apartment has felt like a home, which I think was particularly important during Christmas.

New Year’s Eve

Many times Rod and I discussed the various pros and cons of attempting to get a babysitter so we could go out New Year’s Eve. Salzburg offers a big NYE line up, such as: classical music concerts, multi-course dinners, fireworks over the castle, street music, food stalls…We stayed in. We played cards, drank Mozart liqueur, listened to music, drank champagne, ate a few snacks. You know how it goes.

The purchasing of fireworks in Austria is legal, so in the days leading up to NYE, (and I mean days, not just nights) there was plenty of noise from fireworks in our neighbourhood, which in the current European climate can be a bit disconcerting. Actually Christmas Eve as we walked to the bus stop, we heard a number of explosions, however they were not followed up with emergency services vehicle sirens, so we felt we were OK.

From about 5pm NYE, there was constant noise from fireworks. This is no exaggeration. As the night progressed, there was more evidence of fireworks with the colours exploding into the sky. However, this was no match for the relentless barrage of fireworks which started really cranking up at about 1145pm. We headed outside to the backyard (1 degree and light drizzle) and were entertained for the next 30 minutes. It was amazing. At times it was difficult to tell which fireworks were from local backyards and which ones were from the Castle – these Austrians like to celebrate and I am sure there was a high level of one-upmanship between many of the Dads in the neighbourhood.

We had a late night and woke up early thanks to Hamish, with headaches reminding us that we had no right to have so much fun at our age.

 

Doe, oh dear…

Yes, we went on the Sound of Music tour. Hamish received the DVD courtesy of Santa and has watched it 3 times in a week. He likes it. He sings the songs, he repeats the script. He particularly likes the end of the movie: escaping across the border, hiding from soldiers, soldiers with guns, soldiers in cars…I was already sick of it before today and I would live a complete life of happiness if I never saw it again. Clearly I am in the minority. The bus was full with eager non-Europeans (mostly Australians) waiting to be driven around to the various filming locations, listening to an out of work actor being annoyingly flamboyant and unfunny. Once the music started I wished both my sister’s had been there to experience this reality, rather than just insisting I ‘do the tour’. It was quite hilarious (well, for me anyway, other people were singing along). We parted with 100 Euro for the privilege of seeing many sights we had already visited, plus it was 1 degree and foggy.

 

12 days to go

We have two destinations left before we fly home. Our first is Mestre – Venice and our second is Bolsena, Lake Bolsena, about 2 hours N of Rome airport. Hamish is very excited to be going back to Italy, but I am not convinced it’s due to actually being in Italy, I think it might be because we are starting to talk about being back at home in Australia.

Because some things are more difficult in Italy, I purchased travel sickness medication in Salzburg. After being offered a herbal alternative suitable for children and me responding with, “Oh no, I want real medication”, I purchased some in chewing gum form (because even anti travel sickness treatment in Europe is way cooler than Australia) so as not to have a repeat of the flight from Melbourne. Our trip home is 3 separate flights of 6, 7 and 8 hours, hopping from Rome to Dubai to Malaysia and back into Melbourne at 2am. I am not sure if this will be better or worse than the solid 14 hour, then 6 hour flights to get to Rome, however, it is better for our wallets, saving us over $1000.